Three branches of government

New Zealand’s system
of Government follows the Westminster model, with a constitutional monarchy,
a sovereign Parliament, and the essential business of government distributed
among three separate entities.

This principle of distribution
is known as the separation of powers. It exists to ensure that the principal
powers of the government, that is, legislative, Executive and judicial,
are not concentrated in the hands of any single set of persons.

Each of the three branches
has a specific function:

The legislature, which in
New Zealand is the single chamber House of Representatives, retains the
legislative power to make laws, through drafting, examining and debating
bills. Unlike Australia and England, New Zealand no longer has a second
chamber in the form of a Senate or an upper House.

The Executive, made up of
the Crown (represented by the Governor-General), Cabinet Ministers, and
the public service, has responsibility for developing, initiating and
implementing policy, as well as for the publiction and administration
of legislation.

The judiciary comprises the
Judges and the courts, and exercises the power to interpret and apply
the law through the court system.

As the New Zealand Parliament
has no upper House, it is up to the MMP electoral system and the strong
select committee system to ensure that the Executive does not dominate
the legislature. This role is exercised by the Senate in Australia and
the House of Lords in the UK.

The actions of the Executive
are also subject to the restraints of the Treaty of Waitangi, the New
Zealand Bill of Rights Act, the Human Rights Act, and international law.This account
is by Diane Salter, who uses the diagram in her professional development
of policy analysts and managers in the public and private sectors. It
was developed for the 5th edition of the DecisionMaker Guide to Parliament
and Government, and readers can find out more from the Office of the Clerk
at NZ's Parliament, and can find out more also from
the Ministry of Justice
Link updated 21 December 2005